Vanishing Vigilance?

Friday

Sep 21, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 21, 2012 at 12:52 PM

Increasingly, Monroe County school districts have been eliminating their liaison officer. Only a few years ago, eight of the nine districts in Monroe County had a liaison officer assigned to their schools. Now there are three: Monroe, Bedford and Airport.

Ray Kisonas

CARLETON ? The Airport High School student who acted inappropriately on the school bus got an earful from Deputy Brian Francisco.

?Next time we have to talk to you you?ll be off the bus!? he said in the school?s office as the student made her way outside.

Moments later, another student who was sitting in another office because he was misbehaving in class decided it was a good idea to peek outside the door just outside the deputy?s office.

?Why are you out here?? Deputy Francisco asked incredulously. ?When you?re in class you can?t follow instructions and now you can?t do it here. You can?t behave. That?s why you?re here.?

And so it goes. As a Monroe County sheriff?s deputy, the school?s liaison officer doesn?t sit around waiting for crime to occur. Yes, he deals with kids who break the law. But he also teaches DARE classes and runs several student programs, such as anti-smoking and anti-bullying courses. He also helps with counseling and social work.

?They wear about 20 different hats,? said Sgt. John Plath, who oversees the county?s liaison program.

But more and more Monroe County school districts have been eliminating their liaison officer. Only a few years ago, eight of the nine districts in Monroe County had a liaison officer assigned to their schools. Now there are three: Monroe, Bedford and Airport.

The reason for the decline is the same reason why so many other programs are going away: lack of money. Schools have been cutting back for years and while educators commend the liaison program?s worthiness, they say their choices are limited when it comes to budget reductions.

?Whatever the cost is, it?s too much,? said David Drewyor, superintendent of Mason Consolidated Schools, which eliminated its program three years ago. ?We just can?t afford it.?

Summerfield, Dundee and Ida also have been without liaison officers. Monroe, the largest county district, reduced its program from two deputies to one. Bedford is in the process of doing the same and Jefferson was the most recent district to eliminate the program.

In 2011, the cost of a liaison officer, including benefits, was $98,638. The schools pick up 80 percent of that cost while the county funds the remaining 20 percent. When schools are faced with deep budget reductions, that $79,000 price tag could seem insurmountable.

?It?s a tough situation,? said John Krimmel, Airport?s superintendent. ?But we made the decision that we?re not cutting the liaison officer.?

The liaison officer has many jobs but having a presence in a building deters crime, said Monroe County Sheriff Tilman Crutchfield. Without a liaison officer on staff, school officials must wait for the nearest officer to respond during disturbances or incidents when an officer is needed. That alone makes a school building less safe, police and educators said.

?We?re a safe school, but would we be safer with a liaison officer? Absolutely, no doubt about it,? said Mason?s Mr. Drewyor. ?You don?t have someone here when an incident happens.?

Without a liaison officer, schools must use assistant principals or teachers to quell disturbances that can turn violent. Often only three sheriff?s deputy squad cars are available for service during a school day shift. And if they?re in other parts of the county, it could take time before one responds to a school, depending on priorities of incidents.

Yet he said he understands the dilemma facing schools and budget-busting funding issues.

?The program is a very viable program,? he said. ?But what is more valuable in school, a teacher or a police officer? How do you counter that??

At Airport High School, Deputy Francisco, who had earned a degree in secondary education because he wanted to be a teacher before he became a cop, said he works with students to find out what?s happening in the building.

Those students he disciplined for their behavior on a bus got the message that one more screw up and they?ll be facing some type of disciplinary action. Deputy Francisco, who?s been with Airport for seven years, said that?s how he nips a situation before it devolves into criminal activity.

In a span of about 15 minutes, Deputy Francisco met with three different students, including the one who just couldn?t sit still in the office.

?This is continuous, all day long,? he said as he headed outside to make sure the kids were getting on the buses without problems. ?I?ve got kids coming to me every day.?

Related story: DARE still being taught.

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